buechler



RINSING AGENT DISPENSER FOR CLOTHES WASHING MACHINE} Filed Oct. 24, 1957Aug. 18, 1959 w. R. BUECHLER 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.

HIS ATTORNEY Aug. 18, 1959 w, E R 2,899,814

RINSING AGENT DISPENSER FOR CLOTHES WASHING MACHINE Filed Oct. 24, 19574 Sheets-Sheet 2 F'IG.2.

INVENTOR.

WILLIAM R. BUECHLER HIS ATTORNEY Aug. 18, 1959 w. R. BUECHLER 2,899,814

RINSING AGENT DISPENSER FOR CLOTHES WASHING MACHINE Filed 001:. 24, 19574 Sheets-Sheet 3 32 O 0 O O O V O O O 0 3 74 0 O O O O O O O 0 O 2 VINVENTOR.

WILLIAM R. ausanuzn BY g a HIS ATTOR NEY Aug. 18, 1959 w. R. BUECHLERRINSING AGENT DISPENSER FOR CLOTHES WASHING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4Filed Oct. 24, 1957 FIGS INVENTOR.

WILLIAM R. BUECHLER BY 212/ a a HIS ATTORNEY .of the clothes occurs.

United States Patent RINSING AGENT DISPENSER FOR CLOTHES WASHING MACHINEWilliam R. Buechler, Morrison, IlL, assignor to General ElectricCompany, a corporation of New York Application October 24, 1957, SerialNo. 692,075

3 Claims. (CI. 68-12) This invention relates to automatic clotheswashing machines, and more particularly to such machines where it isintended that a rinsing agent be automatically introduced into theclothes basket of the machine at the proper time in the washing cycle.

Automatic clothes washing machines customarily proceed through asequence of operations in order to wash, rinse and dry the clothes. Thesequence ordinarily includes a washing operation, a first extractionoperation in which the wash water is removed from the clothes, a rinsingoperation in which the clothes are rinsed in clean water, and a finalextraction operation in which the rinse water is removed from theclothes. Depending upon the type of machine, the action within any givenoperation may be slightly diiferent, as for example, some machinesinclude a two stage initial extraction operation in order to avoid sudslocking of the backet, and other machines include a spray rinse duringthe rinsing operation in addition to the customary submersion rinse. Butthe general sequence of washing, extracting, rinsing and then extractingagain is used in almost all automatic washing machines.

In order to obtain the most desirable results from these machines it hasbeen found advantageous that a treating agent be added to the rinsewater during the rinsing op.- eration. Various treating agents such aswater softeners and fabric softeners, hereinafter referred to generallyas rinsing or rinse agents, may be added to the rinse water to producedifferent results. If a water softener is added, a better rinsing actionis obtained leaving less detergent in the clothes. The water softenerremoves mineral constituents in the rinse water which would otherwisereact with part of the detergents and be retained as deposits in theclothes. As a result, less graying and yellowing If a fabric softener isadded to the rinse water, a softer feeling is imparted to the clothesbecause the softener leaves a film on the clothes which creates thisresult. The fabric softeners also result in less wrinkling of theclothes and in their being easier to iron. Further, they tend to preventelectrostatic charges from being formed on synthetic fabrics.

In an automatic washing machine it is desirable that the rinsing agentbe added automatically, that is, that the rinsing agent be introducedinto the clothes basket at the proper time during the washing operationWithout attendance by the operator; and accordingly, it is an object ofmy invention to provide a new and improved rinse agent dispenser, foruse in an automatic washing machine, which may be filled before themachine is set in operation and which will then introduce the rinsingagent automatically into the clothes basket at the start of the rinsingoperation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dispenser of the abovetype which is simple in construction and in operation and which involveslittle in the way of complexity and costs over constructions lacking theautomatic rinse agent addition feature.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a ice dispenser ofthe above type which will eifect a pre-mixing of the rinse agent withthe rinsing liquid-prior to its introduction into the clothes basket towash out the receptacle for the rinse agent and prevent thereby theformation of undesirable deposits. Also, better rinsing action iseffected by complete mixing of the rinse agent and the liquid since thisresults in distribution of the rinse agent throughout all the clothesbeing washed.

A further object is to control a dispenser of the above type byrelatively minor and inexpensive modifications to a washer controlsystem.

In one aspect of the invention, it provides a washing machine which isadapted to proceed through a sequence of operations which includeswashing and rinsing operations and, normally, two or more centrifugalextraction operations. The machine includes a rotatable clothes basket,and a supply of liquid for cleaning and rinsing purposes which isprovided through a conduit extending into cooperative relation with theclothes basket so that liquid can be supplied into the basket to fill itto the desired level at the appropriate time. The invention contemplatesthe provision of a rinse agent receptacle which is positioned above theliquid level in the clothes basket. A second conduit communicates at oneend with the supply conduit and at its other end with the receptacle.The first end of the second conduit is arranged in the supply conduit soas to cause part of the liquid flow to pass through the second conduitand into the receptacle when liquid flow is provided through the firstconduit. Valve means are provided so as to close the second conduitduring the washing operation; during the rinsing operation the valvemeans are opened so that the liquid supplied can flow into thereceptacle and mix with the rinse agent. The receptacle is so arrangedwith respect to the basket and is so designed with respect to the amountof flow thereinto that the mixture of liquid and rinse agent rises to apredetermined level and thereafter flows out of the receptacle and downinto the basket where it mixes with the remainder of the rinsing liquid.

The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are setforth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself,however, both as to organization and method of operation, together withfurther objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood byreference to the following detailed description taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of a clothes washing machine includingmy new and improved rinse agent dispenser, the view being partiallybroken away and partially in section in order to show details;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the Washing machine of Fig. 1 including theimproved rinse agent dispenser, also partly broken away to show details;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view along line 33 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view along line 4-4 in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of an electrical control circuit suitablefor usein the machine of Fig. l and including suitable control means forthe improved rinse agent dispenser of the invention, arranged inaccordance with this invention.

Referring now to Fig. 1 I have shown therein an agitator type clotheswashing machine 1 having a clothes basket 2 in turn disposed within anouter imperforate tub or casing 3. The tub 3 is mounted within anappearance cabinet 4 which includes a hinged cover 4 (Fig. 2) forproviding access to the clothesbasket. At the center of basket 2 thereis positioned a vertical axis agitator 5 which includes a center post 6and a plurality of radially extend ing vanes 7. The agitator is furtherprovided with an outwardly and downwardly flared skirt 8 to which thevanes 7 are joined at their lower ends.

Both the clothes basket 2 and the agitator 5 are rotatably mounted. Thebasket is mounted on a flange 9 of a rotatable hub 10 and the agitator 5is mounted on a shaft whichextends upwardly through portion 11 of thehub 10 and the center post 6. The agitator is secured to the shaft byany suitablemeans (not shown). During the cycle of operation of themachine 1 the agitator is first oscillated back and forth within thebasket 2 to wash the clothes therein. Then, after a predetermined periodof this washing action, the basket 2 is rotated at high speed to extractcentrifugally the washing liquid and discharge it into the outer tub 3.Following this extraction operation a supply of clean liquid isintroduced into the Wash basket for rinsing the clothes and the agitatoris again oscillated. Finally, the basket is once more rotated at highspeed to extract the rinse water and discharge it into the outer tub.

The basket 2 and agitator 5 may be driven by any suitable means as thedrive means form no part of the present invention. However, by way ofexample, I have shown them as driven from a reversible motor 12. Themotor 12 drives the basket and the agitator through a drive including aclutch 13 which is mounted on the motor shaft. The clutch 13 allows themotor to start Without load and then picks up the load as it comes up tospeed. A suitable belt 14 transmits power to transmission as sembly 15through pulley 16. Thus, depending upon the direction of motor rotation,pulley 16 of transmission 15 is driven in opposite directions.

The transmission 15 is so arranged that it supports and drives both theagitator drive shaft and the basket mounting hub 10. When motor 12 isrotated in one direction the transmission causes the agitator 5 tooscillate within the basket 2. Conversely, when the motor 12 is drivenin the opposite direction, the transmission drives the wash basket 2 andthe agitator 5 together at high speed for centrifugal extraction. Whilethe drive mechanism forms no part of the invention, reference is made tothe co-pending application of James R. Hubbard et al. S.N. 420,594,filed April 2, 1954, now Patent No. 2,844,- 225, owned by the GeneralElectric Company the assignee of the present application. Thatapplication discloses in detail the structural characteristics of atransmission'assembly suitable for use in the illustrated machine.

In order to introduce washing andrinsing liquid into basket 2 a suitableconduit 17 is provided having an outlet opening 18 over the basket sothat liquid (normally water) introduced into conduit 17 flows outthrough opening 18 into the basket. As shown, conduit 17 is arranged toenter the tub 3 through an opening formed between the top of the tub anda gasket member 19 (Fig. 3) which seals the space between tub 3 and thetop of cabinet 4. The liquid may be supplied in the usual manner, as iswell known in the art, and as will not further be described hereinexcept herebelow to illustrate a typical control system for theintroduction of liquid to conduit 17.

According to the invention, a receptacle member 20 is .positioned abovethe liquid level which can be provided in basket 2. Preferably, asshown, this is effected by mounting receptacle 20 above basket 2 to anysuitable relatively stationary portion of the Washing machine such astub 3. As best appears in Fig. 3, the receptacle 20 extends directlybeneath lid 5 =so that when the lid is moved to its open position asuitable rinse agent may be introduced into receptacle 20. This ispreferably effected by of opening 18 and is suitably formed in thegeneral manner of a scoop so as to divert part of the flow of liquidthrough conduit 17 and cause it to enter and pass through conduit 23. Asshown in Fig. 4, end 25 of conduit 23 is formed in the instantembodiment as an unevenly divided fork 26 in conduit 17, with one sideleading to opening 18 and the other to opening 27, and with the end ofconduit 23 in the form of a hose secured over outlet 27 of conduit 17However, it will be recognized that this merely represents the presentlymost practical form of the invention, and that any arrangement wherebyend 25 of conduit :23 diverts part of the flow through conduit-17 intoconduit 23 fulfills the purpose of the invention.

Intermediate its ends 24 and 25, conduit 23 is provided with a valve 28(Fig. 2) As will he further described in connection with Fig. 5, valve28 is arranged in the control circuit of washing machine 1 so that itcloses conduit 23 during the flow of water through conduit 17preparatory to a washing portion of the cycle and opens conduit 23duringflow through conduit 17 for a rinsing portion of the cycle. Itwill readily 'be observedthat with valve '28 closed, no liquid willenter receptacle 20 through conduit 23 despite fiow'through conduit 17.However,'on the other hand, when valve 28 isopenedflowtthrough conduit17 will cause liquid to be scooped'up by the 'end 25 of conduit 23 andthis liquid will then pass through the conduit '23 into receptacle 20.

The receptacle is provided with suitable means for effecting removal ofliquid therefrom after it reaches a pre-determined level therein. Whilethe receptacle may, ofcourse, 'be formed so that its edge is low enoughso that water flow out of it will be provided through the simpleexpedient of having it overflow, it is preferred to provide a suitablesiphon arrangement 29 having its upper portion no higher than the upperedge of receptacle 20. The shorter leg 30 of siphon 29 extends intoreceptacle 20 and the longer leg 31 thereof extends out of receptacle 20with its open end 32 arranged over the liquid containing means'whichbasket 2 and tub 3 provide together. "In the present embodiment, it isover the space between tub 3 and basket 2. Preferably, as shown, shortleg 30 is arranged so that its open end 33 is adjacent but not touchingthe bottom of receptacle 20.

Referring now to Fig. 5, there is shown a preferred electrical controlsystem for the machine 1 in which suitable control means for valve 28 ofthe improved rinse agent dispenser of this invention are provided. Itwill be understood that present day washers include various controlswhich do not relate in any Way to the present invention, and that, tosome extent, these have been omitted for the sake of simplicity and easeof understanding. In order to control the sequence of operations ofwashing machine 1 the circuit includes a'timermotor 34 which drives aplurality of cams 35, 36, 37 and 33. These cams during their rotation bythe timer motor actuate various switches so as to cause the machine topass through the above-mentioned cycle of operation, first washing theclothes, next extracting the wash water from them, then rinsing theclothes with clean water, and finally extracting the rinse water fromthe clothes.

The electrical circuit as a whole is energized from a two-wire powersupply'39, 40, and the manner in 'which the various electricalcomponents of the machine are connected to this power supply during themachineoperation will now be explained. To initiate a Washing cycle,switch 41 is closed. This maybe eifected in the usual manner, forinstance, by means of a suitable control knob 42 (Fig. 2). With switch43 in the position shown, a circuit is then completed through contacts44 and '45 controlled by cam 35. It is to be noted that switch 43further includes another contact 46 and that cam 35 can maintain thesecontacts in three different conditions, that is, with no contact at allbetween them, with contacts 44 and 45 engaged, and with all threecontacts 44, 45 and 46 engaged. From'contact'45 the circuit extendsthrough a conductor 47 to the control solenoid 48 of a hot water valve49, and then to conductor 50. This is eflected through closed contacts68, 70, and 71 of a switch 69 controlled by cam 36 which closes thethree contacts for the washing operation. For the rinsing operation, cam36' moves contact 68 against contact 81, with contact 70 separating fromboth contact 68 and contact 71 as, will appear more clearly herebelow;It will also be noted that the circuit extends through coil 72 of asolenoid 73 whose function will be explained below.

If it is desired to supply warm water to basket 2 rather than hot water,then a manually actuated switch 51 is also closed. This closes a circuitenergizing the control solenoid 52 of a cold water valve 53 in parallelwith hot water solenoid 48 so that both hot and cold water will besupplied through conduit 17 to basket 2. From conductor 50 the valveenergizing circuit continues through timer motor 34 and switch 41 backto line 40. From conductor 50 a circuit also extends through analternate path which includes both the start winding 54 and the mainwinding 55 of drive motor 12. More specifically, the circuit extendsfrom main winding 55 through protective device 56 and the contacts 57and 58 of a switch 59 controlled by cam 38. As shown, contacts 57 and 58are closed when the timer is in the wash portion of the cycle. The startwinding 54 is connected in the circuit in parallel with main winding 55by means of a double pole double throw motor reversing switch 60 whichis controlled by cam 37. From conductor 50 the circuit extends to startwinding 54 through contacts 61 and 62 of switch 60, and through thecontacts 63 of a motor operated centrifugal switch 64 which is closedwhen the motor is at rest or rotating below a predetermined speed. Thestart winding circuit is completed on its other side through contacts 65and 66 of switch 60.

With the timer motor 34 and the start and main windings 54 and 55 ofdrive motor 12 connected in parallel, a much lower impedance ispresented in the circuit by the motors than is presented by valvesolenoid 48 and solenoid 73 (and, if switch 51 is closed, valve solenoid52). As a result, the greater portion of the supply voltage is taken upacross the solenoids 48, 73, and 52 and relatively little across themotors. This causes solenoids 48 and 52 (assuming switch 51 to beclosed) to be energized sufliciently to open the water valves to admithot and cold water mixed with each other to the machine through conduit17, with the timer and drive motors remaining inactive. Solenoid 73 isarranged to control the valve 28 in conduit 23. The solenoid is arrangedin a well-known manner so that when it is energized valve 28 is closedand prevents flow of liquid through conduit 23. Thus, with the circuitthus far described, that is, with the solenoid 73 energized by beingconnected at its other side to conductor 50, no flow occurs throughconduit 23 into receptacle 20.

With this arrangement, water is introduced through conduit 17 intobasket 2 to fill it until such time as the water reaches the level ofthe overflow apertures 74 provided at the upper edge of the basket sidewall (Figs. 1 and 3). When the water reaches this level it thenoverflows through aperture 74 into tub 3 forming a pool of water in thebottom of the tub until a water level responsive switch 75 is closed.Switch 75 is connected directly between conductors 47 and 50 so as toshort them together and remove substantially all power from across thesolenoids 52, 48 and 73. This then connects the timer motor 34 and thedrive motor 12 directly between conductors 39 and 40 and both motorsthen start in operation. As motor 67 comes up to speed centrifugalswitch 64 opens so as to remove start winding 54 from the circuit. Whenthe reversing switch 60 is in the position shown in Fig. 5 the polarityof the start winding is such that the motor 12 rotates in the directionfor causing operation of the agitator 5.

The washing operation continues until cam 38 opens contacts 57 and 58 ofswitch 59 removing power from the drive motor 12 and halting operationof agitator 5. However, power is not removed from the timer motor 34since a power circuit is still completed to it from conductor -47through solenoids 48 and 73 (and, if it is closed, solenoid 52). Theimpedance of timer motor 34 is much greater than that of the valvesolenoids so that it takes up most of the supply of voltage andcontinues in operation, the solenoids having so little voltage acrossthem that they are ineffective to operate their respective valves.

As the timer continues to run, cam 37 reverses switch contacts 62 and 65from their illustrated positions so that contact 62 engages contact 66and contact 65 engages a contact 76. This reverses the polarity of startwinding 54. Timer 34 continues to run and then causes cam 35 to closeall three contacts 44, 45 and 46 of switch 43 together and causes cam 38to close contacts 57 and 58 of switch 59. This places power on bothwindings 54 and 55 of drive motor 12, and with the reverse polarity ofthe start winding the motor begins to rotate in the reverse directionfrom that in which it rotated during the wash period. As explained, thishas the effect of driving wash backet 2 at high speed for extractingwash water from the clothes.

Returning for an instant to Fig. 1, motor 12 drives a pump 77 through aflexible coupling 78 which connects the motor shaft and the pump shaft.During washing and rinsing operations, pump 77 discharges into a conduit79 which leads to a nozzle 80 positioned above a filter 81 so that theliquid is recirculated in order to clean and filter water during thewashing operation. The system constantly circulates the washing liquidfrom the tub 3 through nozzle 80 and filter 81 back into basket 2. Thisrecirculation system forms no part of the present invention, but isbriefly described to complete the description of machine 1. At the endof the washing and rinsing portions of the cycle and in response to areverse direction of rotation of motor 12, pump 77 discharges intoconduit which is adapted for discharge to a stationary tub or drain lineso that the pump is effective to drain tub 3. While any suitable pumpmay be used for draining purposes, the one just now described isrepresentative and is described in detail in a copending applicationS.N. 468,460, filed November 12, 1954, by John Bochan and owned by theGeneral Electric Company, the assignee of this application.

Returning now to the circuit of Fig. 5, it will be seen that the highspeed rotation of wash basket 2 is accompanied by action of pump 77 todischarge the liquid into discharge conduit 85. The extraction periodcontinues until cam 38 again opens contacts 57 and 58 of switch 59 toremove power from drive motor 12. As the wash basket 2 coasts to a stop,cam 35 returns to the position shown in Fig. 5 with contacts 44 and 45in engagement, and cam 36 causes contact 68 to engage contacts 81 ofswitch 69 with contacts 70 and 71 being entirely disconnected from eachother and the other contacts by this action. With this action, coldwater solenoid 52 is energized independently of manual switch 51 throughcontacts 68 and 81 and conductor 50. Timer motor 34 is now operatingthrough contacts 68 and 81 of switch 69 and solenoid 52 of cold watervalve 53. Also, if the operator intends to have a warm water rinse,contacts 82 and 83 of manually operable switch 84 will have been closedto put solenoids 52 and 48 in parallel again.

As mentioned above, the impedance of the timer motor is so much greaterthan that of the solenoids that the timer motor continues to run and thesolenoids are not energized sufliciently to open their valves. Inaddition to the switching operations performed by cams 35 and 36, cam 37also operates motor reversing switch 60 during this period to .bringcontact arms 62 and 65 into contact with contacts 61 and 66respectively. The coast :period continues until such time as cam 38recloses congreater portion of the voltage drop now appears acrosssolenoid 52 (and if a warm rinse has been selected, solenoid 48). Thetimer motor stops running and solenoids 48 and .52 are operative to opentheir respective valves to introduce either cold or warm rinse vwaterinto wash .basket 2. However, the action of switch 69 removes power fromacross coil 72 of solenoid 73. This causes valve 28 in conduit 23 toremain open during flow of rinse water through conduit 17 into basket 2.This, in turn, causes flow of water through conduit 23 into receptacle20 as the rinse water flows through conduit 17 into basket 2. Therecepacle 2t) and the end 25 of conduit 23 are so proportioned thatsufiicient liquid is diverted through conduit 23 to cause an amount ofliquid tacle 20 at the beginning of the cycle has mixed with the liquidwhich has been introduced through conduit 23. Water now flows throughthe siphon and out through opening 32 into tub 3 so as to provide therinse agent, already well mixed with water, into the basket (byrecirculation) for the rinsing operation. Of course, if so desired,siphon opening 32 may be provided over basket v2 to introduce themixture directly into the basket. This action continues as long as rinsewater is being introduced into basket .2 through conduit 17 since waterwill continue to be diverted into conduit 23 through open valve 28 andinto receptacle 20. While, of course, any suitable proportion of liquidmay be diverted it has been found that a scoop action divertingapproximately of the liquid permits use of a receptacle of optimumdimensions.

The machine continues to fill with rinse water until such time assufficient water is overfiowed into tub 3 to close liquid level switch75 to short out the-solenoids 48 and 52. This again applies line voltageto the drive motor and the timer motor, and closes the water supplyvalves 49 and 53. The siphon 29 continues to cause water to flow out ofreceptacle 20 into tub 3 until the .receptacle is substantially empty.The very small amount of liquid that will remain in the receptacle will,because of the continual mixing action occurring during theiprovision ofrinse water into the tub, be very dilute .and will prevent caking of therinse agent or the creation of gummy deposits as sometimes occurs wherethe rinse agent is left in a concentrated form.

The reapplication of line voltage to the drive motor and the timer motorstarts both motors, with the drive motor driving agitator 5 with anoscillatory motion as for the washing portion of the cycle. The rinseaction continues until cam 38 again opens contacts 57 and 58 of switch59 to remove power from the drive motor. The timer motor, however,continues to run and during the pause the cam 37 again reverses theposition of the switch arms 62-and 65 to reverse the polarity of startwinding 54 when it is reconnected. Also cam 35 again reconnects allthree contacts 44, 45, and 46 of switch 43. Cam 38 then closes contacts57 and 58 of switch 59 causingmotor 12 to start. As before, thisprovides a spiner extraction action to centrifuge the used rinse waterfrom the clothes in the basket and out through conduit 85 by means ofpump 77.

Itwill be seen from the foregoing that the invention provides a new andimproved rinse agent dispenser which may readily be incorporated intothe automatically controlled cycle of a washing machine so that it willautomatically introduce the rinse agent into the. clothes basket attheproper time. In addition, it can be seen that this is done in a simplemanner with the addition of a rela- .tively small number ofielements,and that the rinse agent will be introduced in .a highly. dilute statewhich operates .to flush out thewreceptacleforihe rinse agent so thatundesirable deposits do not form therein. Yet a further advantageousfeature ofthe invention lies in the particular provision of the controlsolenoid 73 for the valve 28 which controls the action of the time agentdispenser, so

that by the simple provision of a modified contact arrangement the valvecontrolling solenoid 73 may be included in the control circuit so thatvalve 28 is operative at the desired time and precluded from operationat all other times. It will be noted that the specific embodiment shownprovides, in addition to the dilution of the rinse agent before it iscarried into the clothes basket, substantially complete emptying of thereceptacle 2% by means of the siphon 29so that upon completion of thecomplete washing sequence receptacle 20 is ready to receive rinse agentwhen another operationisdesired.

While in accordance with the patent statutes we have described what atpresent is considered to be the preferred embodiment of the invention,it will 'be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes andmodifications may .be made therein without departing from the invention.and we, therefore, aim in the appended claims to cover all such changesand modifications as fall within the true spirit of this invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent .of theUnited States is:

1. In a washing machine having an automatically controlled cycleincluding washing and rinsing operations, means adapted to containliquid including a clothes basket, cleaning andrinsing water supplymeans including a conduit extending into cooperative relation with saidbasket to supply water thereto, .a pair of valves for respectivelysupplying hot and cold water to said conduit, a pair of solenoidsrespectively controlling said valves, switch means for alternativelyconnecting said hot water solenoid or said cold water valve solenoid forenergization, timer controlled means for moving said switch means toitshot water solenoid energizing position during the washing operationand to its cold water energizing position during the rinsing operation,a receptacle for a rinse agent positioned above the liquid level in saidclothes basket, a second conduit communicating at one end with saidsupply conduit and at its other-end with said receptacle, ,said one endof said second conduit being arranged in said supply conduit to divertflow of part of the waterin said first conduit through said secondconduit to saidreceptacle upon flow through said first conduit, valvemeans controlling fiow through said second conduit, electrical meanscontrolling said second conduit valve means, said electrical controlmeans being responsive to said hot water solenoid energizing position ofsaid switch means to close said valve and being responsive to said coldwater solenoid energizing position of said switch means to open saidvalve whereby during a .rinsing operation the water flows into saidreceptacle and mixes with the rinse agent, said receptacle beingarranged with respect to said basket and said flow into said receptaclebeing large enough so that the mixture of the water and rinse agentrises to a predetermined level and thereafter flows out of saidreceptacle down into said first mentioned means.

2. In a washing machine having an automatically controlled cycleincluding washing and rinsing operations, means adapted to containliquid including a clothes basket, cleaning and rinsing water supplymeans including a conduit extending into cooperative relation with saidbasket to supply water thereto, a receptacle for a rinse agentpositioned above the liquid level in said clothes basket, a secondconduitcomrnunicatingat one .end with said supply conduit and at'itsother end with said receptacle, said :oneend of said second conduitbeing arranged in'said supplyconduitto :provide'flow of partof the waterin said first conduit through-saidsecond conduit to said receptacle uponflow through said first conduit, a pair of valves for supplying hot andcold water respectively into said conduit, a pair of solenoidsrespectively controlling said valves, switch means having a firstposition during the washing operation for energizing said hot watersolenoid thereby to open its valve and having a second position duringthe rinsing operation for energizing said cold water solenoid thereby toenergize its valve, valve means closing said second conduit, a thirdsolenoid for controlling said conduit valve means, said third solenoidbeing arranged to open said valve when it is not energized and to closesaid valve when it is energized, said switch means being arranged toenergize said third solenoid in said first position and to de-energizesaid third solenoid in said second position whereby during a rinsingoperation the water flows into said receptacle and mixes with the rinseagent, said receptacle being proportioned to the flow thereinto so thatthe mixture of water and rinse agent rises to a predetermined level andthereafter flows out of said receptacle down into said first mentionedmeans.

3. In a washing machine having an automatically controlled cycleincluding washing and rinsing operations, liquid containing meansincluding a clothes basket, cleaning and rinsing water supply meansincluding a conduit extending into cooperative relation with said liquidcontaining means to supply Water thereto, a pair of valves forrespectively supplying hot and cold water to said conduit, a pair ofsolenoids respectively controlling said valves, switch means movable toa position for energizing said cold water valve solenoid, timercontrolled means for moving said switch to its cold water valve solenoidenergizing position only during the rinsing operation, a

receptacle for a rinse agent positioned above the liquid level in saidclothes basket, a second conduit communicating at one end with saidsupply conduit and at its other end with said receptacle, said one endof said second conduit being arranged in said supply conduit to divertflow of part of the Water in said first conduit through said secondconduit to said receptacle upon flow through said first conduit, valvemeans controlled flow through said second conduit, electrical meanscontrolling said second conduit valve means, said electrical controllingmeans being responsive to said cold Water valve solenoid energizingposition of said switch to open said second conduit valve means andbeing responsive to positions other than said cold Water valve solenoidenergizing position of said switch to close said second conduit valvemeans, whereby during the rinsing operation the Water flows into saidreceptacle and mixes with the rinse agent, said receptacle beingarranged with respect to said liquid containing means and said flow intosaid receptacle being large enough so that the mixture of the Water andrinse agent rises to a predetermined level and thereafter flows outofsaid receptacle down into said liquid containing means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,228,914 Pierce Jan. 14, 1941 2,312,950 Zimarik Mar. 2, 1943 2,523,799Woodson Sept. 26, 1950 2,523,801 Woodson Sept. 26, 1950 2,534,014Gayring et a1. Dec. 12, 1950

